[X(]Sorry it is me again.

I just got my truck out of the shop. After numerous wheel balanceing of new tires p235 70 R x15 Bf goodrich, new hub and bearing and rotor newmonroe idler arm, new monroe heavy duty steering stabilizer, rancho 5000 shocks only few months oldtruck stillhas a shimmy or vibration at 110kms to 120 kms and mayber higher.

Mechanic says not a wheel balanceing problem thinks maybe reardriveshft is out of balance and needs to be put on machine and be balanced.I guess they weld weights on the drive shaft. Did say one tire had slight egg shape but not enough to throw it out.

How would the driveshaft become out of balance,switched to p235 x70 from p235 x75r.that would not make any difference? any body know the cost of balancing drive shaft.Does it matter which rim goes where on the Blazer. Read about road force balanceing wonder if that would help? Searched around one tire store said they opted for Sonar balanceing due to problems with road force.Any body know what problems road force have, and will sonar balanceing solve my balance problems.

If I bought driveshaft from auto wrecker think it have the same problem or would it fix problem. Cannot see any reason for driveshaft to be out of balance by damage I mean I have not be off roading or anything.

Whatwould bemore likely need drive shaft balance or wheel alignment? I am on low budget need to nail the problem to save bucks.

thanks for any input

1999 Blazer S10 2dr LS auto4.3L 4x4 196,000kms

 

Has anything come of this? I'm getting a noise (along w/ thevibration) that gets worse the faster that I go. It sounds like a helicopter is hovering right over me when I'm travelling at around 70mph.

I literally just got the car a 4-wheel alignment and tire balance; full oil change, lube, & filter; coolant flush; transmission fluid flush; differential fluid flush (royal purple synthetic), and of course an oil change. On top of all that--I replaced the upper and lower ball joints on the front-right wheel.

I figured that the alignment, wheel balance, or ball joint replacement would fix the noise and get the car to drive true again (no pulling, excess vibration, etc) -- it eliminated the pulling, but the noise and vibration is more noticeable after the work was done. Just before I bought the truck, the previous owner had taken it in to replace the u-joints on the main driveshaft(2 of them)....is it possible that my driveshaft is out of balance?

 

Have either of you checked the U-joints? Be particularly critical of prior work in this area. It is possible that the prior job was not completed correctly. U-joints are cheap... Actually remove the drive shaft and have a look at the u-joints. Replace them if any play is observed.

Driveshafts don't just go out of balance...

 

I would definately agree with Swartlkk on this one. This happened to me except I just changed the differential fluids and the drive shaft got all screwy. I would say that it is the ujoints, plus it is cheap to have replaced and done right (mine was like $150 parts,labor, and WI tax).

 

Heya Swarkk,

The u-joints were actually just replaced.

It's that "whub whub whub" noise which can be heard driving at any speed--the vibration is only noticeable when going faster--like around the 65-70mph.I also noticed that the BFG AT tire on the right-front has a little more wear on the outer edge (indicating excessive positive camber I believe) prior to the alignment and ball joint replacement.

I'm hoping that it could just be the tire. None of the other tires show abnormal wear. The guys at the shop doing the work today yanked on the rim--only the right front had play, but replacing the ball joint fixed that.

Maybe I should rotate the wheels to see if the noise follows that wheel to the rear....

 

Uneven tire wear can make some pretty disturbing noises. I have that problem with the current tires on my Rainier. The driver's front makes a similar noise, but I know that it is the tire. No worries as I can't hear it inside the truck. I'm not stressing over it. Once the tire wears to the point of needing replacement, I'll replace them. These tires that are on there are known for uneven wear issues.

 

So then because they checked the play on the wheel and got that taken care of, and because the ball joints, alignment, and u-joints have been taken care of; in my case it's either going to be the tire itself, or perhaps the wheel bearings, no?

I've got to take it back to that shop though on my next day off because they guy doing the alignment forgot to center the wheel, so I'm still driving with the wheel cocked to the left a bit....I'll ask them about it then as well to make sure.

 

Yeah, its either the tire itself or a wheel bearing. In my case, it is the tire.

 

for any one following the threads here I think my ball joints are shot. Backing up quick and hiting the breaks hardthere is loud clunk at front pass wheel, going foward right away and hitting brakes hardclunks again so I guess I will have to attempt to replace ball joints andmaybe tierod ends.

 

whub whub got my attention. I thought it was the drive shaft or a tire. I get that at about 25-30 mph when I switch from 4wd to 2wd. if I switch back and forth a few timesit goes away.In my case it probably has to do with the transfer case.

one other "fix". its so stupid. I have the same wheels as in the forum photo.Had vibrations over 65 mph. I was going nuts, constantly rebalancing and replacing suspension parts, aligning etc. whenit persisted with new tires I was really pissed. I was convinced it was a cv joint, so I asked a mechanic I know for his opinion. His recommendation... clean the dirt out of the inside of the rims before you get the tires balanced. it worked.
I live on a dirt road. when the dirt is dry and they rebalance (without cleaning the F#%@# rims) it works until it rains. when you stop, the dirt resettles in a new position.
Ive had a 97 4wd 2dr blazer. now I have a 2004. Yeah right, I'm going to trade in for a Prius to drive thru a foot of snow.